If you are familiar with the social media app Instagram, you will know that its main purpose has been, traditionally, to share selfies and snapshots of one’s lifestyle. But there has been a significant rise in the use of educational infographics flooding everyone’s news feed, particularly in response to the Black Lives Matter movement.

Let’s take a look at how this has changed the way we use Instagram and how it promoting societal change for the younger generation.

What is an infographic?

An infographic is defined as ‘graphic visual representations of information, data, or knowledge intended to present information quickly and clearly.’

Instagram offer an image carousel with a maximum of 10 slides, which you can fill with whatever you like.

Users can take advantage of this feature, posting tailor-made graphics, with bold text, to explain elements of bite-sized concepts. They have proved to be a successful tool for education and spreading awareness, considering most young people consume most of their news on social media rather than on traditional news outlets.

The catalyst: Black Lives Matter

The trend of the Instagram infographic really came to the forefront following the tragic murder of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer in the United States.  Our newsfeeds filled with selfies quickly turned into mini slideshows packed with cries for justice and equality, to define relevant words and phrases, and resources on how to support the Black Lives Matter movement.  This trend was picked up by not only the everyday users but also celebrities and influencers who had vast followings on the platform.

 

Since then, the infographic had been adopted by other causes and is used frequently all over Instagram as a way to circulate information and educate on specific subjects or topics. They seem to spike when explaining especially complicated/heated political or social topics, such as for sharing the experiences held by women of sexual harassment in the light of the Sarah Everard case, or the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

 

Here are some examples of how infographics are being used as an activism tool on Instagram at present:

 

@SophJButler posts a weekly ‘Sunday School’ graphic educating readers on specific issues regarding disability.

 

@everydayracism_  Graphics to educate on the subject of racism and how it can be challenged.

 

@theslowfactory  Frequently upload carousel posts on a variety of topics using tailor-made graphics and citing sources along the bottom

 

How the infographic can be used for your business

 

The infographic is a brilliant way to condense a fair amount of information into a singular social post, which can be beneficial to a business selling any kind of product or service.

For example, Brigstock Skin & Laser who post infographics to their Instagram account to promote their monthly offers or to provide information surrounding their expertise.

Infographics can be utilised as a tool to answer frequently asked questions at a glance. This lessens the likelihood of a user dropping off because it has proved to hard to get the answers they needed.

Each slide of the infographic can be posted as an individual story for more exposure and saved to a highlight reel for future users to find.

The infographic tool allows a brand to share snapshots of what they are offering, without wordy, lengthy and frankly overcomplicated posts. Providing a call to action in the final slide or in the caption will allow users to find further information on your website, thus promoting traffic and hopefully leading to greater conversions.

 

How to get started with infographics

  •  The free tool, Canva, is going to be your best friend. It is a library of pre-made, fully customisable, social media content – including premade carousals and infographics! The great this is, you don’t need any prior experience with graphic design to get the most out of Canva.
  •  Customise your posts to reflect your branding and stick to your own colours and fonts. If Canva does not have your font in-built, you can upload it manually. Likewise, you can upload your own icons, images and logos.
  • Keep the information concise, with a clear message, keeping to your brand’s tone of voice.
  • Do not overpack each slide with text. It is best to make use of the 10 slide maximum to spread out the wording. Whilst you can download ready-to-go infographics with the text included, it is best to edit them so that people don’t recognise it from elsewhere and so it reflects your company’s mission.
  • Put a small watermark on each of the slide, so that others cannot repost your content without crediting your business. This could be with a logo or with your Instagram handle.

Whether this is your introduction to infographics or you wanted to find new ways to make your infographics more effective, one thing is for sure, they have made a huge impact in all corners of the digital world and every marketing and social media professional should be embracing them – as they are clearly here to stay.